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Mytherceria
Whatever odd commingling of blood which produced the Kiasyd has led to a number of weird effects, not least of which is the Mytherceria Discipline. This collection of powers mimics the abilities of faeries — or at least, that’s the best guess of the Kindred who are familiar with it. The Kiasyd use this power to alter and beguile the minds of their foes, as well as to force others to tell the truth. The Kiasyd do not, in general, teach this Discipline to those outside the bloodline, and supposedly it would require oaths sworn on the lifeblood of the student to learn. Dot 1 Powers Dreamstalker This is a combo Discipline and requires Dominate 2. Weirdlings enjoy exerting control over their victims, even in dreams. A Kiasyd who whispers into the ear of an unconscious victim may implant fantastic or frightening thoughts that remain with the sleeper after waking. The dreams Kiasyd insert in victims’ minds can be anything from seemingly disparate elements (you will repeatedly see eagles and pink umbrellas) to intact narratives (you will dream of your husband chasing you around town with an axe). Kiasyd have been known to use this power to compel victims to react to stimuli planted in their path, seeing features from their dreams as symbols of good luck, or potential disaster. System: '''The player rolls Manipulation + Expression (difficulty the victim’s current temporary Willpower rating) as she commands the sleeper to dream whatever elements she narrates. The effect manifests in the victim’s behaviors once woken, effecting concentration (difficulty of extended actions increases by two) and potentially stimulating the victim in a positive (the victim responds favorably to subjects from his dream) or negative way (the victim must make a Willpower roll to remain in the presence of what he dreamt) for a duration dependent on the number of successes achieved by the player. '''Successes 1 Success: One turn 2 Successes: One hour 3 Successes: One night 4 Successes: One week 5+ Successes: One month Folderol The Kiasyd can cleave truth from lies. The exact effect varies from vampire to vampire. Some Kiasyd experience bleeding from the eyes or ears when they hear a lie, while some Weirdlings’ eyes glow when told a falsehood. Whatever the effect, this power detects lies, not mistakes, meaning that a target has to know he is lying in order for this power to work. System: '''The character knows when a target is deliberately lying. No roll or expenditure is necessary for this power to work, but the character must deliberately activate it. Note that this power does not provide any insight into what the truth might be, nor does it enable the vampire to tell if a target is simply stating something false that he believes to be true. Dot 2 Powers Fae Sight The Kiasyd’s knowledge of magic isn’t just theoretical. Their strangely-colored eyes are capable of detecting the arcane energies of the fae, as well as magic from other, more esoteric sources. They are not, however, capable of using this power to detect the residue of ghosts or vampiric magic. '''System: '''The Kiasyd sees faeries and other faetouched mortals for what they really are, with no roll required. Additionally, the player can detect any form of magic that does ''not ''stem from ghosts or the undead, including magic from mages, werewolves, and other such odd sources. The character can recognize these for what they truly are, provided he has seen similar effects before. Dot 3 Powers Aura Absorption The Kiasyd is capable of seeing images of events and emotions past by touching an object or an area. However, unlike the Auspex Power The Spirit’s Touch, this power absorbs the images, making them harder for other beings with similar powers to access. Anyone attempting to use this power, Spirit’s Touch, or a similar ability to see what the Kiasyd has seen finds that the images are hard to hold, slipping through his mind’s eye like minnows through a stream. '''System: '''The player must make a Perception + Empathy roll. The difficulty is determined by the Storyteller based on the age of the impressions and the mental and spiritual strength of the person who left them. The number of successes determines the amount of information gained, both in terms of images of the scene when the object was being held or touched, and the nature of the person who was holding the object. One scene-type image and one aspect of the person’s identity (Nature, Demeanor, aura, name, sex, or age) becomes clear for each success the player garners on the roll. Anyone attempting to use this power or The Spirit’s Touch on the same object subsequently must accumulate more successes than the Kiasyd did to get any impression at all. The first Kiasyd’s successes subtract from the number of successes scored by anyone trying to read the object thereafter. Dot 4 Powers Chanjelin Ward The vampire inscribes a ward on an object, a location, or a person. That ward disorients and befuddles anyone that sees it, meaning that even if an intruder can penetrate a Weirdling’s security and steal an object of value, he’s unlikely to be able to find his way to the exit. Spiteful Kiasyd use these wards as punishment — one story tells of a Weirdling that drew a ward on an enemy’s shirt as dawn approached, and then watched (from safety) as the unfortunate vampire burned in the sun, unable to remember which way to run. '''System: '''The vampire creating the ward inscribes the symbol in a visible location — on a library door, bookshelf, or an individual’s clothing — and the player rolls Intelligence + Larceny (difficulty 7 for inanimate objects, or the subject’s current Willpower +2). Anyone entering the warded area or touching the warded object loses two dice from her Intelligence dice pools as long as she maintains contact with or proximity to the ward. Additionally, anyone seeing the ward becomes addled and lost unless she succeeds on a Wits + Investigation roll (difficulty 8). The Kiasyd is immune to his own wards. The glyphs last for a duration indicated by the number of successes on the Intelligence + Larceny roll: '''Successes Duration 1 success One hour 2 successes One night 3 successes One week 4 successes One month 5 successes One year Sacrifice to Nightmare This is a combo Discipline and requires Obtenebration. Kiasyd who know their connection to the Abyss also know it’s necessary to keep the entities within content, and doing so occasionally requires a sacrifice. Pragmatic Weirdlings reason “If we need to sacrifice lives, why not the lives of those we hate?” After painting the interior walls of a pitch-black chamber with fae sigils, the Kiasyd seals a sacrifice inside the room. Within seconds, the tentacles and snapping jaws of the Abyss reach through, and consume whatever offering has been provided. Those schooled in Abyss Mysticism believe the nightmare entity to be a part of the summoner, as it ceases to exist if it leaves the chamber emblazoned with the Kiasyd’s sigils and blood. Sacrifices who survive over a minute in the chamber are supposedly given the honored treatment of being diablerized by Kiasyd without, but Weirdlings sniff at such vulgar claims. System: '''The vampire must inscribe a Chanjelin Ward (V20, p. 455) within a room, where it has the same effects as usual. The Kiasyd must then spend two blood points to summon a tangible nightmare from the Abyss before exiting the room, leaving her sacrifice behind. The nightmare is a tentacled, many-mawed creature, which cannot exist outside the sacrificial chamber for longer than a single minute. The nightmare’s four independent tentacles each deal lethal (the Kiasyd’s Strength +1) damage through constriction, which can be resisted with an opposed Strength roll (difficulty 6 for each tentacle). The nightmare’s mouth deals aggravated (the Kiasyd’s Strength +2) damage after successfully grappling the sacrifice with its tentacles. The nightmare has equal health levels and resistances to the summoner, who can soak damage with Stamina and Fortitude. Damage inflicted on the nightmare does not affect the summoner. '''Experience cost: 21 Dot 5 Powers The Riddle Phantastique The Kiasyd whispers a riddle to an opponent, and the riddle consumes his mind. The target can do nothing until he solves the riddle, and no one can help him — answers provided by others, even correct answers, fail to counteract this affliction. System: '''The player rolls Manipulation + Occult (difficulty of the victim’s current Willpower). After a successful roll, the victim can do nothing but sit and ponder the Riddle until she accumulates three times the riddler’s successes. The subject rolls Wits + Occult (difficulty 8, plus or minus the number of derangements the victim has, at the Storyteller’s discretion). She makes this roll as soon as she is told the Riddle, and then once per hour until she has gathered enough successes. Should the victim botch on a roll to solve the Riddle, she takes one level of lethal damage as the mystical enigma racks her body, and she loses all successes from the accumulated total. This damage cannot be healed until the Riddle has been solved. The riddler can end this trance by telling the victim the answer, but no one else can. Dot 6 Powers Steal the Mind Legends tell of the Fair Folk taking the memories and faculties of their victims, leaving these hapless people drooling idiots for the rest of their lives. While modern thinking is that these stories actually referred to stroke victims, elder Kiasyd display a power with a similar effect. The victim of Steal the Mind loses his memories and all knowledge he has accumulated. The Kiasyd gains these memories for a short time, and generally uses this time to inscribe them before they revert to the original owner… assuming the Weirdling lets that happen. '''System: '''The player selects a mortal or supernatural target and rolls Perception + Subterfuge (difficulty equal to the target’s current Willpower). While the Kiasyd has “stolen” her subject’s mind, she retains her own consciousness, but has complete access to all of the subject’s thoughts and memories. Subjects have no knowledge that they have been affected in this manner, though any attempts to harm them — by the Kiasyd or anyone else — return their wits to them immediately. Subjects have no access to their Knowledges while this power is active, but Talents and most Skills (those that work on muscle memory) are still present. The Storyteller might need to exercise discretion as to which Abilities are lost. Those who are victims of this power for long periods of time may starve, though they will eat food presented to them. The number of successes determines the duration of the effect, though the Kiasyd may return the subject’s mind at any time before this period ends. If the victim dies before the memories return, the Weirdling keeps them. If the Kiasyd kills the target to keep his memory, the character may need to roll for degeneration depending on what Path they follow — Kiasyd on Humanity must always roll. '''Successes Duration 1 Success 10 minutes 2 Successes One hour 3 Successes One night 4 Successes One week 5 Successes One month Dot 7 Powers Absorb the Mind This power, similar to Steal the Mind, allows the vampire to absorb Abilities from her victim. These traits are transferred permanently; the victim loses the knowledge, and the Kindred gains it. Absorb the Mind is an extremely invasive and insidious power, and fortunately only a bare handful of Kindred in the world know of it. System: '''The player rolls Perception + Empathy (difficulty equal to the target’s current Willpower). The target may resist with a Willpower roll (difficulty equal to the Kiasyd’s current Willpower). The difference between the two determines the effect. If the target gets more successes, he resists completely and the Kiasyd may never use Absorb the Mind on this target again. The Kiasyd, if successful, may select a combination of Abilities to her satisfaction. Taking some of a victim’s Ability dots may leave a remainder — the Kiasyd need not take all of a subject’s dots in a given Ability. For example, a character with three dots in Occult, from whom a Kiasyd steals one, retains an Occult of 2. If a Kiasyd takes fewer dots than she already has in a given Ability, these points do not serve to raise her own rating. (In the previous example, the Kiasyd would not increase his Occult rating if he already had a rating of one or more, as he took only one dot.) If the Kiasyd fails in an attempt to use this power on a target, no subsequent attempt can be made on that target for a year and a day. In all cases, the maximum to which the Kiasyd can raise an Ability is the level the target has in that Ability, so if a victim has only one dot in Law and the Kiasyd gets 2 successes, she can’t gain 2 dots in Law. Generational restrictions do apply: a Sixth-Generation Kiasyd can have a maximum of seven dots in an Ability, for example. All losses of Abilities on the part of the victim are permanent, though they may be returned to their original levels via experience-point expenditure. '''Successes Effect 1 Success Steal 1 dot 2 Successes Steal 2 dots in one Ability 3 Successes Steal 3 dots in up to two Abilities 4 Successes Steal 4 dots in up to three Abilities 5 Successes Steal 5 dots in up to four Abilities Dot 8 Powers The Grandest Trick The Kiasyd can fool himself into believing that he is not, and has never been, a vampire. This trick lasts for a short time, during which the character gives up all blessings (but loses all drawbacks) of being Kindred. He retains all of his other knowledge, but the magic of the Grandest Trick deftly prevents him from figuring out the truth (notes that explain the truth vanish, knowledge of clues that would lead him to it don’t make sense, etc.). The Grandest Trick is useful for throwing vampire hunters off a character’s scent, but also for gathering information that can only be obtained during the day. Rumors among younger Kiasyd also persist that some elders of the bloodline use the Grandest Trick to meet during the day once every 50 years, exchanging documents and letters that, for that day, make no sense to any of them. It is only after the Trick wears off that they remember who they are and can read what their Clanmates wrote. System: '''The player spends eight blood points and makes a Willpower roll (difficulty 9). If this roll is successful, the character becomes mortal at the next sunrise for a duration determined by the number of successes on the roll. The Kiasyd knows, however subliminally, the duration of the power, and he automatically attempts to return to safety, should daylight be a problem at the power’s end. After this power ends, the Kiasyd retains all memories of his brief return to the world of mortals. During his time as a mortal, the character’s Traits are limited to ratings of 5 (which return to their original levels when the character becomes a vampire again), and the character has no access to her Disciplines. Likewise, the character may not use blood points for any vampiric benefits while mortal. '''Successes Duration 1 success 10 minutes 2 successes One hour 3 successes Four hours 4 successes 12 hours 5 successes 24 hours